The sun rises at the Xinghua High-tech Zone. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
As a provincial high-tech industrial development zone with a planned area of 4.97 square kilometers, the Xinghua High-tech Zone – located in Dainan town, Xinghua city, a famous stainless-steel town in China – is a major driver of the local economy.
At present, there are more than 3,000 small, medium and micro enterprises based there, including 235 enterprises of a designated size – meaning companies with an annual business revenue of at least 20 million yuan ($2.94 million).
It is home to specialist industries, including auto tire radial steel cord, stainless steel and new metal materials ventures. It is the world's first steel cord production base, the country's largest stainless steel raw materials distribution center and the largest stainless steel products trading center in East China.
There is a Product Quality Supervision and Inspection Center there, as well as the Xinghua High-Performance Metal Material Products Research Institute and a public service platform for scientific and technological innovation of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Moreover, it boasts an academician workstation, has three post-doctoral workstations, a national enterprise technology center and 34 provincial-level R&D centers.
Its stainless steel industry has been officially recognized as one of the top 100 industrial clusters in the country and one of the 100-billion-yuan industrial clusters cultivated by Jiangsu province.
It is listed in the Sixth Batch of National Demonstration Bases of the "City of Minerals". It boasts competitive advantages in its entire stainless steel industry chain – from smelting and pickling, to logistics, quality inspections, exhibitions and trading.